Kindle users delighting in Amazon's leather case are finding the addition of a wrapper sends the e-reader into a tailspin, though thankfully not a terminal one.
The problem is with the "Kindle Leather Cover, Black" for the latest model of Amazon's keyboard-touting e-book reader. Buyers are reporting that the cover causes their …

No library ebooks

Although Kindle buyers might be able to buy all the ebooks they want, if their library lends ebooks the Kindle owner should be able to borrow books. If their library lends them, Overdrive Library System software is widely used for ebook lending.

Overdrive library systems software now has an application to borrow library ebooks, that Amazon prohibits on Kindle devices.

'OverDrive Media Console' is a free app for Android and iOS that let you download and listen to audio books from public libraries that use the OverDrive service, that has recently been updated to be able to download library DRM- ePUB ebooks directly to the phone.

WVGA or VGA phones are good ereader devices for ebooks, as Amazon's Kindle adverts on TV show. More importantly phones are pocket-able, more so than e-ink readers, and carried around anyway. For any book that does not include diagrams, including coffee-table books with colour pictures that render satisfactorily, my mobile phone is my ereader of choice.

missinformed

Amazon doesn't prohibit, ePUB prohibits. It's a terms of the ePUB licensing that a device with firmware support for ePUB may not support proprietary encryption or DRM schemes and also support ePub. iOS and other systems get around this because the ebook reader is an app on an OS, the kindle is a device and the reader is part of the firmware.

Amazon was informed of this, and chose their own DRM anyway, which is why they can't support iBooks, ePub, and a number of other ebook formats. they figured if they locked it down, ePub would loose the war and they'de get to license out their protocol. nope...

If you like to loan and borrow books, just don;t buy a kindle. I prefer physical books (for many, many reasons, of which loan/sale/trade is only 1 reason), but if I was to choose a reader based on format, it would be iOS. Since I also happened to do an exhaustive review of 4 different e-reader platforms, I can also reccomend that unless all your reading in in well or bright lit rooms, avoid e-ink. Most people actually read in dim and poor light most of the time (living room at night, bed, train, etc), and e-ink is notably poor in low light.

3 responses

First, an optometrist will tell you, the easiest way to get eye strain is to read in bright light, you should not do that unless necessary. Next, if you insist on reading even in harsh sunlight, its usually pretty easy to find a glare free angle for extended reading, simply by choosing to move you ass to a more advantageous spot. There are also polarized covers available for most screens and tablets that make reading outdoors much easier.

Battery life of an iPad, with screen on, WiFi on, BT on, and 3G enabled is 10 hours of video playback. It;s more than 12 hours of screen-on time under less strenuous activity, and you can easily get 14 hours of reading continuously on an iPad simply by turning off the radios. If you need to read more than that during a single day, 30 minutes on a USB port can add another 4-5 hours. Standby time (with wifi enabled) of the iPad pushed 30 days.... Compared to an iPhone, why. Its for short reading. If you plan to have a phone and an e-book appliance, you compare it to having a phone and a tablet device, not just a phone. That said, I've done 4+ hour reading sessions on my smartphone on planes and in waiting rooms, and had no issues. i spend 2+ hours a day reading blogs and technical documents on it as it is.

3.5" is small, yes. It's not a reading appliance, its a phone that you can use in a pinch to read stuff. If your primary motivation is books and extended reading, you;re right, it's not the right use case, and you need a real book, an e-reader, or a tablet. That said, you should not have compared a kingle to an iPhone, you should have compared it to a 7 ot 10" ultralight tablet or competing e-reader.

I thought EPUB was "a free and open e-book standard"

Self help

The leather case problem can also be resolved with nail polish.

Rather than have my kindle unprotected for the tube commute during the 3 weeks it would take them to make the exchange I just added a bit more insulation in the form of black nail polish (the problem areas are noticeable, the black paint over the metal clips make it obvious where the scratches are which causes it to conduct) and haven’t had a problem since.

@Liam Go back to the bit about scratches...

Scratches

I think he's talking about scratches on the metal tabs on the cover that fit into the kindle, to hold the cover on.

On the cover with a light, power for the light is carried by those tabs from the kindle to the LED. On the cover without a light, the metal tabs can still contact the parts inside the kindle providing the power. This can result in short-circuits or otherwise causing problems.

It was suggested that the tabs be coated with nail polish to provide a layer of insulation, preventing short circuits. The scratches Liam refers to are scratches in the nail polish, caused by normal use, removing the insulating effect, so the problem would reoccur. He's not talking about scratches on the kindle itself.

No problems here

I've had my Kindle 3 in its Amazon Kindle cover for several months now, and had no problems AT ALL. I also don't think the price was too steep, except for the fact that shipping it up here to Aotearoa from way down North in the Benighted States doubled the price. A genuine leather cover that transforms how the Kindle feels and makes it a much more "booklike" experience was worth it, and I am very glad I did get it. It will be interesting to find out what's causing the problem for those who are edxperiencing it.

Protects my kindle when it's in my backpack. I don't close the envelopes, so the kindle slides in and out easily. I've stapled the two envelopes together at an edge, so that the inner bubblewrap envelope doesn't come out with the kindle.

Leather Case

I received my Wi-Fi only Kindle as a gift, complete with the Leather Case - Blue without the light and once the Kindle was put in the case, it has not been removed. There has never been an unasked for reboot, shutdown or glitch in the four months I have had it. Perhaps leaving the device alone, once it's in the case is the answer?